Writing in Annika Levitt's first grade class at Kiel School is about to reach new heights, literally.

Levitt found out Monday that her class won a makeover for their second-floor classroom, complete with floor-to-ceiling dry-erase surfaces from IdeaPaint, a company that specializes in making dry-erase surfaces out of walls.

"IdeaPaint will present the Kiel School with up to 500 square feet of its high-performance dry-erase paint, along with professional installation, at no cost to the school," said Susan Baranyi, a spokeswoman of IdeaPaint from Fleishman-Hillard. "IdeaPaint will work with school officials to arrange the installation timeline."

Levitt and the students had to put together a video entry for the contest explaining how they would benefit from a makeover with the dry-erase surfaces. Levitt found out the class was a Top 10 finalist in the country last week and the school and community rallied together to have the public vote for their entry. The two entries with the most votes won the makeover.

According to Baranyi, Levitt's class had over 2,500 votes.

Kiel School Principal Jodi Mulholland said an installation date has not yet been decided but that she is so excited for the class.

"I truly am thrilled for our school district, Mrs. Levitt and the school, and mostly thrilled for the students because our kids will benefit the most," she said.

Mulholland said a huge initiative of Kiel and Stonybrook Schools is to continue promoting professional development in the area of active literacy. She said the schools work to inspire students to be creative with their writing.

Levitt said using more whiteboards will also help the school be greener and more efficient by having to utilize less paper.

Levitt said the students in her class are so excited to have won because they entered the competition together, working as a team to write a poem to read in the video entry. She also said she is so thankful for the community's support in voting for the school to win.

"I was so taken back by the support of the community and the other schools," she said.

Levitt's class received support districtwide.

"We are very proud of Mrs. Levitt and her class," said Superintendent James Opiekun.

Opiekun praised the class for their creative video entry in the contest and said the prize will be good for the class.

"[It] will help them learn and have fun at the same time!" he said.

Levitt also thanked Opiekun and Mulholland and said she is so happy that they not only allowed her class to enter the contest, but helped promote the class' entry as well.